We have the pleasure to present the second keynote speaker at VINCI 2018 Prof. Jon McCormack, Monash University, Australia on Design after Nature. You can find information on how to register for VINCI 2018 here

Abstract: Nature has driven us in what and how we create for millennia. Biomimetic approaches to human design are inspired by natural forms, shapes and processes. In computing, nature-inspired algorithms mimic collective behaviour or biological evolution to solve hard problems in search, optimisation and learning. In this talk I’ll show how I have developed a creative visual design practice informed by processes from biological development, the architecture of natural form, and evolutionary processes. My work began by devising advanced visual models of morphogenetic development in plants. Incorporating evolutionary processes allowed designs to emerge that would be difficult or impossible to discover independently, making them “beyond human design”. In later work, I have experimented with evolutionary ecosystems and processes such as niche construction to encourage diversity in the visual style of works generated by algorithmic processes. My most recent work looks at translating from the virtual back to the real, using digital fabrication technologies driven by generative computational processes. The goal is to build dynamic, responsive, intelligent physical systems that interact directly with living organisms, symbiotically affecting their growth and development. This leads to the creation of bio-machine hybrids – bringing the biomimetic concept full circle – and heralding a new form of co-design where human, machine and nature all contribute to the design process.

Short Bio: Jon McCormack is an Australian-based artist and researcher in computing. He holds an Honours degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Monash University, a Graduate Diploma of Art (Film and Television) from Swinburne University and a PhD in Computer Science from Monash University. He is currently full Professor of Computer Science and director of sensiLab at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. His research interests include generative art, design and music, evolutionary systems, computer creativity, visualisation, virtual reality, interaction design, physical computing, machine learning, L-systems and developmental models.

Since the late 1980s McCormack has worked with computer code as a medium for creative expression. Inspired by the complexity and wonder of a diminishing natural world, his work is concerned with electronic “after natures” – alternate forms of artificial life that may one day replace the biological nature lost through human progress and development. For more information about Jon Cormack see.

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